Pentagon: 2015 budget would keep links to Europe

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Tuesday unveiled a proposed 2015 defense budget that shrinks the armed forces while keeping a commitment to support European allies at a time of tension over Russia’s military involvement in Ukraine.

The spending plan reflects what Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel calls a choice to field a smaller but more modern force rather than a larger one less prepared for combat. Some in Congress, however, see that as an approach that weakens U.S. capabilities in a period of growing uncertainty in Europe and Asia.

The proposed $496 billion in spending— unchanged from this year’s budget total— is part of a $3.9 trillion federal budget that President Barack Obama sent to Congress Tuesday.

Under the proposed defense plan, the Army would shrink from 490,000 active-duty soldiers to 440,000-450,000 over the coming five years — the smallest since 1940, prior to the buildup for World War II, when the Army had 267,000 active duty troops.

The budget retains a commitment to NATO and to building a missile defense system in Europe.

In previewing the budget last week, Hagel described it as the first to fully reflect the nation’s transition from 13 years of war.

The U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan is scheduled to end in December. Obama has not yet decided, however, whether to authorize a non-combat mission starting in 2015 that would continue training and advising Afghan forces.

Because of the uncertainty over a U.S. military role in Afghanistan beyond this year, the Pentagon’s 2015 budget includes what it called a “placeholder” sum of $85.4 billion that would pay for a train-and-advise mission. The Pentagon said it would amend the budget plan once it decided on a post-2014 role in Afghanistan.

At the core of Hagel’s overall plan for 2015 and beyond is the notion that after wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that proved longer and more costly than foreseen, the U.S. military will no longer be sized to conduct large and protracted ground wars. It will put more emphasis on versatile, agile forces that can project power over great distances, including in Asia.